A Protecting Friend
by linnosterlund
Summary: When Grand Fisher attacks, Masaki's life is not the only one he claims. Six years later, Tatsuki meets her childhood friend again for the first time in years. But what happened to him? Where has he been all these years? Where is the crybaby she once knew? After receiving the powers of a Shinigami from an annoying midget, she gets closer to finally finding out. AU
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer: Sadly enough, I do not own Bleach. I wish I did though, and I'm sure many of you wish the same… But Tite Kubo owns it all, ****_you egoist._**

**Prologue**

"You think I should do what now?"

Urahara looked at the orange-headed teen on the other side of the table. The kid's face showed a lot of feelings, most confusion, shock and surprise... and was that _hope_? He loved to catch the young man of guard with his unexpected ideas, not only because of the amusing answers he always gets, but also because it made the kid drop his scowling mask and show the world what he was really thinking. Having spent almost every day with the teen during the past few years, it was always good to know that there were some sort of feelings underneath the emotionless scowl he always wore and that he hadn't shut himself away from them. Although Urahara couldn't blame him, the kid had been through way to much, way to early in his life.

"My, my, Ichigo-kun. You know, every child in Japan needs to attend school and get an education, so that I suggest that you start high school shouldn't be surprising." Urahara replied with a large smile and a wave with his fan.

"Yes, but I'm not a normal child now, am I?" Ichigo countered, the light scowl back in place.

"No, your nothing but. See it as a chance to regain a somewhat normal human life." The seriousness in Urahara's words didn't match with his big goofy smile. "In this world, you can't get anywhere without an education. And since I'm sure that neither Tessai's nor Yoruichi's teachings will count as an proper education, then what's better than the real thing?"

"Kisuke.. I've already given up on a normal life and you know it." Ichigo argued, but Urahara could see the little hope he had seen earlier flash in his eyes for a second, so he pushed even further.

"And see it as a training too. I want you to report exactly how many students there are in the nearby classroom and if there is someone in the school that has a higher amount of reiatsu, so you can improve your reiatsu-sensing skills and-"

"I can just go out in town and sense the amount of people in a specific building instead, that would be much easier." Ichigo cut off.

"...And it would be healthy for you to meet someone else than me, Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu once in a while." Urahara continued, keeping the smile in on his face. "It will be fun for you, Ichigo. Take the opportunity to find new valuable friends and do crazy things!"

Ichigo sighed. "Fine, but if this goes horribly wrong, you are the one responsible."

"Why, of course!" Urahara added happily, his smile growing even larger. The strawberry-named teen just shook his head and stood up. He took the dishes with him as he made his way out of the room. Urahara could hear him mutter something like "what the hell are you planning now, Sandal-hat..." before the door shut after him.

Kisuke Urahara looked at the door while his mind recalled memories he would never forget. It was almost five years ago when his old friend Isshin and his family had disappeared. Kisuke, Tessai and the others had searched everywhere after the Kurosaki family, but they hadn't found anything other than evidence that showed that the family had fallen victim to a hollow called Grand Fisher and would never walk on this earth again.

Two years later, Kisuke had gone for a walk to visit the family's grave. When he had entered the cemetery his eyes had fallen on a small creature standing in front of one of the graves. When he came closer, the creature turned to look at the newcomer. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks, staring at the creature in shock. The skull shaped, ivory white mask and the hole in the center of the creatures chest immediately told Kisuke that this was a hollow. The hollow was humanoid and very small, its height (about 145 cm) making it resemble a demon child. It wore a tattered, white hakama with a black sash holding it up. Its lean but muscular upper body was bare and showed a deathly pale skin with black markings. The markings was stretching from the hole across its chest and shoulders and two lines stretched up over the neck and up on the mask, crossing the teeth and eyes and meeting on the back of its head. The mask was featured with two long, sharp horns that pointed forwards and made the small hollow look even more scary than it already was. Two black swords was strapped in a cross on its back and it already had one hand on one of them and studied Kisuke with suspicion.

But this was not what was shocking Kisuke. It was the long, bright orange hair reaching all the way down to the hollow's waist and the glowing amber eyes behind the mask that caught his attention. He knew it was impossible, but that hair colour was not exactly common and he just happened to know a person with the exact same hair colour. And those eyes, they were filled with so much sadness and despair that Kisuke felt a sting in his chest. It was like the hollow had kept his emotions and humanity even after seeing all the horrors a hollow saw, but Kisuke knew that it was impossible. Unless this wasn't a normal hollow. He felt a small amount of hope grow inside him, but was quick to shove it away. There was no way that this hollow was the son of his lost friend, it just couldn't be... It was then that he saw what it stood on the tombstone beside the hollow. _Here lies Kurosaki Masaki, loved mother and wife. _He felt his eyes widen and shifted his gaze back to the hollow.

"I.. Ichigo?" Kisuke heard himself asking, his voice quivering a bit. The hollow froze, staring back at him and narrowing his eyes.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" It demanded with a echoing voice. Kisuke tried to regain his composure while his mind was running over every logical way this could have happened. How in the three worlds had the happy, overprotective older brother of the Kurosaki family become a hollow? Why had it happened? What should he do now? He figured he could find out more later, now it was more important to gain Ichigo's trust than asking questions.

"I am Urahara Kisuke, I was a close friend to your father and I am the humble shopkeeper of a candy store in the Mitsumiya district. You shouldn't be here visiting at this hour alone, you know. That's why you're here, is it not? To visit the graves of your family?"

"How did you know that?" Ichigo answered with an uncertain voice. His whole body language had changed when Kisuke spoke and he reminded Kisuke more of the boy he once were. Kisuke saw how he slowly moved the hand he had on his sword to his mask.

"Because I figured that it would be the only reason you would be here. I figured that you would like to know where they are now, and I can tell you later. I thought that a hollow would probably feel a need to go to those who they were close to in their past life, but I have a feeling that you are not really an ordinary hollow. But also..." He paused. "Because that's why I am here." At this Ichigo did something Kisuke had not anticipated. He used the hand he had on his mask to take it off and crush it to pieces. The face underneath was just as pale as the rest of his body and his eyes were amber with a black sclera. But it was the same face as the boy he met all those years ago had, if not a bit older.

"And why is that?" Ichigo asked, his voice not distorted anymore, but a child's voice.

"I have been visiting this place a lot the latest years, Ichigo. That's because I lack a better place to tell my dear friend how sorry I am for not being able to protect his family..." He trailed off when he saw the hurt look in Ichigo's eyes. "I'm sorry, Ichigo. I'm so very sorry about not getting there in time."

"No, it was my fault. If I only had awakened these powers earlier than I would have been able to protect them... Then they would not be gone... Then Yuzu and Karin would have had a chance to grow up... But I was too weak, too scared and could only stay back and watch and-"

Without even knowing what he was doing, Kisuke had stopped the boy in the middle of his rambling by embracing him in a hug. He felt the boy stiffen, before he slowly lost a battle with himself and broke down crying in Kisukes arms. They stood like that for a few minutes, with Kisuke hugging Ichigo while the boy cried silently.

After that Kisuke had taken the boy with him back to the shop. He had not pressed Ichigo on any information of any sort, even though a part of him almost desperately wanted to know what exactly had happened two years ago. Instead he offered the boy a place to stay and – together with Yoruichi and Tessai – tried to make him feel at home. Days became weeks, weeks to months, and Ichigo slowly became a part of the small group living in Urahara Shouten.

In the beginning, Ichigo had tried to shut himself away from everybody else, wandering around town or lying on the roof most of the time and refusing to talk. After Kisuke had used the hogyoku to make him an arrancar, Ichigo still kept a distance between him and everybody else. It worried Kisuke to no end, until one day when Ichigo suddenly started asking questions about everything that came to his mind when they ate dinner. Yoruichi told him later that night that she had caught Ichigo mourning on the roof. She had talked to him all night and finally made him understand that instead of sulking about the past, he should find a purpose to live for and make his family proud of him.

And that was exactly what Ichigo had done. Sometimes Kisuke found himself shocked with the determination he saw in the boy's eyes. He had asked them to teach him to become strong and from that day Yoruichi gave him daily lessons in how to fight properly, while Tessai taught him kidou. They were all surprised when Ichigo learned to mix shunpo with sonido in just two weeks and (after blowing up at least a dozen spells) mastered Hadō nr.33 Sōkatsui after just five days. It seemed like they had discovered a prodigy, and a damn good one **_too_**. At least that was what Yoruichi had said after the kid had performed a nearly perfect Hadō nr.63 Sōren Sōkatsui that had blasted a very large hole in Kisuke's training ground.

* * *

Walking home after an eventful evening with her best friend Orihime Inoue, Tatsuki Arisawa can't help but wonder what the fuck happened to the little crybaby named Ichigo Kurosaki. The reason? Well, she had had an eventful evening that she would never forget. It had begun so simple. As always, she had gone over to Orihime's place with homemade dinner, since her friend could be a little strange when it came to cooking and appropriate ingredients and Tatsuki felt responsible for her well-being. She had of course noticed the boxes standing in the corridor and during dinner she'd asked Orihime about it.

_A couple of hours earlier..._

"Huh? Oh, the boxes! There is a new neighbour moving in next door and I haven't talked to him so much yet, but he seems to be really nice. Even tough he looks lonely. But I think he's actually hiding that he is a super-ninja-hero who is going to protect us all from the sumo-wrestling-alien-robots. I knew it the first time I saw him with his bright orange hair and-"

"A new neighbour? How old is he?" Tatsuki gently cut off, not wanting to get off topic.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he's about our age, since he said something about starting high school tomorrow, just like us! I was going to give him this cake I baked as a welcome-to-the-neighbourhood-present." Orihime says, holding up a slightly purple-looking cake. Just the thought of what could possibly be in it made Tatsuki feel ill. "It's chocolate-cake with bean paste, mustard and onions!"

"Uhm, Orihime.. I don't think he has the same taste as you, but we could go over and say hi anyway." Tatsuki says, wanting to know exactly who this new neighbour is that could have gotten Orihime's attention this much. "I mean, if he's our age then maybe he will start in the same school as us. And you said he looked lonely, so..."

"That's a great idea, Tatsuki-chan! I'm not sure if Kurosaki-kun really has any friends, or at least any in our school and it would be sad if he was all alone." The mentioning of _that_ name made Tatsuki stop with her fork halfway to her mouth, eyes wide.

"Kurosaki-kun? Orihime, his name doesn't happen to be Ichigo Kurosaki, right?" Tatsuki asked silently, not really sure what kind of answer she wanted to hear. When Orihime nods, Tatsuki drops her fork on her plate and just stares.

"How did you know that, Tatsuki-chan? Oh, I know! You secretly work with him on his super-secret missions and-" Tuning out Orihimes normal rant, Tatsuki finds herself thinking of that day. The weather had been sunny and hot, but for some reason she hadn't been able to enjoy the good weather. Something had made her feel uneasy, like something bad was about to happen, and as a nine year old girl it had scared her. It had been the weekend and she had been training in the dojo. In front of her was a boy with bright orange hair, crying. She had just beaten him in a spar, _again_. And he had started crying, _again_.

"Geez Ichigo, stop being such a crybaby!" She had complained, but Ichigo had ignored her and continued to sob. Then a beautiful voice calling the boy's name had cut in and Ichigo had stopped crying immediately. Taking off the usual headgear he had turned around, happily calling out "mommy". Tatsuki had never really understood how one person's presence could change someone's mood just like that, but she understood, just like anyone else watching, that Ichigo's mother was very precious to him. She had even thought that a part of the reason to why he had started practicing karate was to be able to protect her and the rest of his family.

She had watched him walk up to his mother and give her a quick hug, smiling widely while doing so. Smiling back to her child, Masaki Kurosaki had wiped away the sweat from Ichigo's face with a towel while gently saying:

"Big boys like you shouldn't be crying." Ichigo had just laughed sheepishly while she continued. "Hurry up now and say good bye to Tatsuki-chan, 'cause dad and I have a little surprise for you."

"What surprise?"

"Because of the lovely weather, we thought we should have a picnic today. Dad is waiting in the car with your sisters in the parking lot, so hurry up now!" She answered, and Ichigo had happily run off to the changing room to change to his normal clothes. A while later, he had come back with shorts, t-shirt and a backpack on his back. After exchanging quick good byes, Tatsuki had watched her friend walk out from the dojo with an unexplainable feeling of dread in her gut. The feeling hadn't lessened when her friend never came back to the dojo again. Tatsuki's own mother had told her that Isshin, Ichigo's father and a doctor, had received a job request from a hospital in Tokyo that he just couldn't turn down and the whole family had moved with him to Tokyo where they, according to her mother, now lived. Something with the story had made Tatsuki believe that it was just that, a made-up story. She didn't understand why her mother had lied to her and even today she had not found out the truth. But six years had passed since then and Tatsuki had long since stopped thinking about it and reluctantly accepted that the lie maybe was the truth. Heck, if Orihime hadn't brought up the name, she probably would have forgotten all about it, even if the whole thing made mysterious chills run down her spine. She shook herself out of her thoughts. _It is probably not him anyway. _She tried to convince herself. _There is probably a lot of people in Japan with that name after all. Who are guys.. With bright orange hair... Dammit, stop it Tatsuki! _

Focusing on her friend in front of her again, she became aware of that Orihime was still day-dreaming about Kami-knows-what. She often tended to do that, and was always very light-headed and had a lot of weird habits. But that was exactly what Tatsuki liked about her, even if it sometimes became very exhausting to keep up with. Standing up and collecting the dishes, she cut off Orihimes day-dreaming by saying:

"Shall we get it over with now then, or what do you say Orihime?"

"What? Now? B-but we don't know if he's even awake and we don't want to wake him up because of a silly little welcome, right? I-I mean, it wouldn't be so nice to wake him up and..." Orihime trailed off and Tatsuki couldn't help but raise and eyebrow. Was her friend really that worried for her new neighbour, or maybe she was developing a crush on this mysterious neighbour. Even if it wasn't her childhood friend, Tatsuki was definitely curious to find out who he was.

"Nonsense!" She responded, dumping the dishes in the sink and walking back to her friend. Sending a quick look to the clock on the wall, she continued. "The clock isn't even eight in the evening, who on earth goes to bed this early when they're teens?"

"Well, okay then." Orihime said, grabbing the cake and following Tatsuki out of the apartment. When they reached the new neighbour's door, they hesitated before Orihime knocked lightly. Then they waited. When no response from the inside came, Tatsuki began to feel impatient. When her patience had run out, she turned on her heel and... Came face to face with a pair of golden eyes. Said golden eyes studied her curiously, while she herself studied the person the yellow eyes belonged to.

The person standing in front of her was a beautiful dark-skinned woman with long, purple hair tied up in a ponytail. She was taller than Tatsuki and wore a black undershirt under an orange shirt with white straps on the shoulders, paired with black skin-tight pants, light-weight shoes and a beige sash. A playful smile played on her lips and overall she reminded the two girls strongly of a cat. The woman crossed her arms over her chest while her gaze shifted from the two teenage girls looking like two deers caught in the spotlight, to the cake in Orihimes hands, to the door behind them. Finally she asked the two girls in an amused voice:

"And who may you two be?" Before Tatsuki could answer something probably inappropriate, Orihime spluttered out an answer.

"Uh, I-I am Orihime Inoue and this is my best friend Tatsuki Arisawa." She said, gesturing at herself then at Tatsuki. "I live in the apartment over there-"

"Who're you?" Tatsuki asked before Orihime could say anything more.

"Who? Me? Well, if you live over there then I guess it would make me your new neighbour's relative, Yoruichi." The woman replied, the amusement still visible in her voice. "To be completly honest, I had not expected Ichigo to make friends this fast."

"W-we're not friends." Orihime stammered, blushing slightly. Tatsuki stared at her friend. _Okay, she definitely has a crush on this Ichigo._

"Really?" Something in the woman's – _Yoruichi, _not woman– voice made Tatsuki and Orihime believe that she had fun right now, which only made Orihime blush more. "Well, why don't you come with me then, I'm sure you and Ichigo would make good friends." She said while walking past them and up to the door. There she knocked hard on the door. Confused by her straightforwardness, Tatsuki asked:

"Are you sure, we could visit him later if you want. I mean, we don't want to intrude on family meetings."

"No, no. I'm sure Ichigo wouldn't mind some company with someone other than me. And besides, he is way to serious all the time and should really meet up with other people in his age and have more fun." Somehow Yoruichi managed to make that statement sound dirty, and if possible, Orihime's blush deepened even more. Turning back to the door, she knocked again while shouting. "Ichigo, you lazy ass! Wake up and open the damn door! Haven't I taught you anything?! You don't make ladies wait!" That seemed to have some response and soon they could hear footsteps on the other side. The lock was locked up and the door slammed open.

What they saw in the doorway made poor Orihime blush _even more _and even Tatsuki felt her cheeks heat at the sight. Standing in the doorway was a half-awake, pissed teenager with spiky, vibrant orange hair. His untamed hair reached all the way to his shoulders and the bangs covered his left eye. His right eye was chocolate-brown and a little dull, since he didn't seem to be fully awake yet. His brows was furrowed in to a frown and he was glaring at Yoruichi who didn't seem to notice, or just didn't care. His face was very handsome, but that was not what made the two girls blush. It was because he was only wearing a pair of black pyjama pants and a light-grey hoodie. And the fact that the hoodie was unzipped and was showing a very nice, tanned torso with a very defined eight-pack that would make any woman drool. Tatsuki also noticed that he was lean built and standing fairly tall with at least 5'9'' in height. She also noticed that this could very well be the same Ichigo Kurosaki she once knew. Because that shade of orange wasn't very common in Japan if you didn't dye your hair and something told her that his hair was not dyed.

"What?" The teen growled in a deep voice, oblivious to the two blushing girls standing behind Yoruichi.

"Lighten up, Ichi-kun. Aren't you happy to see your godmother? And don't tell me you were sleeping already, what kind of teenager are you?" Yoruichi said with an over-enthusiastic voice. This did just cause the glare to intensify.

"Oh geez, I'm sorry. But y'know, not all of us want to stay up for 48 hours straight like you, and for the record, we met each other earlier today." Ichigo replied with an annoyed tone, his voice deep and smooth. Tatsuki shot the older woman an incredulous look. Why on earth had she kept them up for 48 hours?

"Like I said, lighten up!" Yoruichi repeated, voice teasing and playful. "And I have to say, I like your choice of clothing, but I'm afraid not all of us are as used as I am when it comes to shirtless men." At this, Ichigo blinked and let his gaze wander around the corridor until it stopped on Tatsuki and Orihime. Blinking again, Ichigo seemed to wake up from his half-asleep stupor and straightened a little bit. Looking down at himself and then up again, he blushed lightly (which made him look very cute, Tatsuki noted while mentally slapping herself) and started to fumble with the zipper on his hoodie.

"Ano.. Hi?" He said, uncertainty visible in his voice. An awkward silence followed with Yoruichi watching in amusement. When Tatsuki noticed that her friend seemed unable to answer, she nudged her in the side while she cleared her throat.

"Hello, I'm Tatsuki Arisawa and this is my friend Orihime Inoue. She is your neighbour and we were thinking of welcoming you to the neighbourhood."

"Y-yes, here!" Orihime stammered, still blushing but not as fierce anymore. She handed him the cake she had baked and curtseyed lightly. Blinking again, Ichigo seemed bewildered of the action before he bowed his head back. "It's a cake I baked as a welcome-present." Orihime explained and smiled brightly.

"Uhm, thanks." Ichigo replied, still looking slightly bewildered and taken aback of the action. _Geez, has he never received a present before? _Tatsuki thought. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." He added and Tatsuki thought he looked quite uncomfortable in this situation, like if he didn't know exactly what to do.

"Yes, well, know that introductions are over, let's go inside already! I don't want to stand here all night." Yoruichi cut in, grabbing the two girls by their arms and dragging them with her past Ichigo and in inside the apartment. When the energetic woman finally released the girls, they found themselves in a living-room. It looked pretty much the same as Orihime's living-room, except a lot of boxes were stacked along the walls. In the middle of the room was a low table with today's news paper laying upon it. Cushions was placed around the table and Tatsuki saw Yoruichi already sitting on one of them, gesturing for the two girls to do the same.

"W-wait a minute. You didn't ask Kurosaki-kun if it's alright for us to be here!" Orihime suddenly said.

"Oh, don't worry. It's okay, and I'm not sure if I really have anything to say in the matter anyway." Ichigo's voice said from behind them, the last part only a muttering to himself. "I'm going to go change and make some tea, so make yourselves comfortable."

"You heard him, now come on! I have a lot of questions" Yoruichi chirped and Tatsuki found herself torn between wanting to run for her life from the crazy woman and stay to find out more about Ichigo. Curiosity taking over, she reluctantly sat down on one of the cushions after seeing Orihime do the same.

"So, Yoruichi-san. You are Kurosaki-kun's godmother?" Orihime asked, smiling at Yoruichi.

"He didn't tell you? I'm hurt." She pouted. Tatsuki gave her a confused look while Orihime explained.

"We haven't really talked before. Exchanging greetings and formalities, but nothing more. I would really like to get to know him, though. He seems like a nice person."

"Oh right. Well, yes actually, I am. Been watching the kid grow up since he was eleven, and teaching him some stuff too, for the record." The older woman said, looking quite nostalgic all of a sudden. "Don't let that emotionless mask fool you. 'Cause the kid got temper, just like Byaku-bo. But he's got a pure heart, I can tell you that, and he really cares about those close to him. Would protect them all with his life at any time."

"You must care a lot about him, to be able to say such good things." Orihime said, still smiling at Yoruichi who smiled back this time, her expression sober. A comfortable silence fell in the room, until the purple-haired woman dropped her sober look and started to look like a playful kitten again.

"Talking about good things." She said, looking like the serious moment never happened. "Ichigo! Where is the tea you promised? You don't make a lady wait, y'know. I thought we taught you better manners than that!" She shouted, making Tatsuki wince with her loud voice. Footsteps could be heard again and suddenly Ichigo came in to the room holding a tray with a teapot and cups in his hands. He still had a light frown on his face, but he had changed his clothes now to a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain, white shirt with the two highest buttons unbuttoned.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya'. Seriously, Yoruichi, what did you expect? I'm not a hotel y'know, and I wasn't exactly expecting anyone tonight. Anyway, here's the tea." He said, putting down the tray on the table and sitting down on the cushion next to Yoruichi. He began to hand out the cups and filled them with the steaming, hot tea. They all lifted up a cup each and began to sip on the tea.

"It was very nice of you to let us come in at this hour, Kurosaki-kun. I hope we're not intruding to much." Orihime said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"It's no problem, I had to get up anyway." Ichigo replied, giving her a studying look before asking. "You live next door, right? I think we met in the corridor before."

"Oh yes, I live in 403. That's why I baked you that cake, as a welcome-to-the-neighbourhood-present. It's a speciality of mine, chocolate-cake with mustard, bean paste and onions!" At this, both Yoruichi and Ichigo paled, the first looking a little green while the latter's eyes widened slightly. Completely oblivious to this, Orihime just smiled brightly.

"Uh, Well... That certainly sounds... interesting. Um, Thanks. I guess" Ichigo got out, repeating what he had said earlier. Deciding to change the topic, Tatsuki turned her head to the orange-headed teen.

"So Ichigo-san, which school do you go to? Orihime and I are starting High School tomorrow and we will go to the local High School Karakura High."

"Karakura High, huh? Well, I think that's where I'm going to attend too. And please, call me Ichigo. I'm not much for suffixes."

"That's great! You will go to the same school. I bet you'll be classmates, too!" Yoruichi exclaimed, smiling broadly again. "Now I can easier make sure that you won't just sit and sulk in a corner everyday." Ichigo muttered something sounding suspiciously like "Urusai" while Tatsuki and Orihime exchanged confused glances.

"Why would you be doing that?" Tatsuki heard herself saying, turning back to face Ichigo again. Said man was scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment when Yoruichi saw her chance to answer.

"Well, someone keeps brooding about the past like a CD-player stuck in repeat. Not to mention that the same someone literally sucks at getting himself out there and make friends. And-"

"Oh, give me a break, will ya'. I've had... other things to do." Ichigo grunted, before sighing in defeat. "Man, that's a lame excuse. Allright, I'll try!"

"Don't worry, Ichigo-kun! Tatsuki and myself are your friends now, right?" Orihime said gently, smiling encouraging at the scowling teen. "And I'm sure that there will be a lot of people in class that you can make friends with." Ichigo nodded and flashed a small smile at her for a second. This made Tatsuki's curiosity skyrocket again. She was now pretty sure that this was her childhood friend, but at the same time there was so many things that didn't fit. Why does he live alone? Where is the rest of the Kurosaki family? What did Yoruichi mean with stuck with brooding about the past? And what the hell is up with all the scowling?

"Hey, Ichigo. Have you lived in this town before or are you new? I'm not sure if I've seen you before." She finally asked, getting Ichigo's attention, who scrutinised her for a second before responding:

"I grew up here with my family. My dad owned a clinic in the Minamikawase district." Ichigo explained. Then he raised an eyebrow at her. "But I thought you knew that already. Didn't we use to practice karate together? With you kicking my ass every time?"

"Yeah, I remember. Just wasn't sure if it was you or not. It's been six years after all." Tatsuki responded, sounding a bit accusing in the end. "Where did you go then anyway. I mean, mom said you moved to Tokyo, but if you did then why didn't you say good bye?" Tatsuki almost regretted even asking. Just as she said that, Ichigo's whole demeanour changed. Tatsuki could see how his body tensed up and how his jaw clenched. She wanted to slap herself when she saw the sorrow and pain flashing in his expression before he put on an emotionless mask again.

"I ... was away. A lot of things happened and there weren't really time for any good byes." He finally answered, the darkness in his eyes not going unnoticed by Tatsuki. The answer was not what she had wanted to hear, but she didn't press the matter any further and noted in the back of her mind the use of "I" instead of "we". There was an long uncomfortable silence. Then Yoruichi threw a look at the clock on the wall and startled.

"Oh my, look at the time. If you youngsters are going to go to school tomorrow then you better go home and get some sleep. I'll take the dishes for ya', Ichi-kun. You can walk the ladies to the door." She said, her words making everyone stand up. Walking out through the door with Orihime in tow, Tatsuki turned around to say good bye.

"Well, it was nice to meet you two." Ichigo said, leaning on the doorframe with his armes crossed over his chest. "I suppose we will meet again tomorrow."

"Yeah, good night Ichigo." Tatsuki said while Orihime chirped out a "good night, Ichigo-kun" With a deep "good night" Ichigo turned around and closed the door behind him. Walking over to Orihime's door, Tatsuki shot one last concerned glance at door number 401. Seeing her friend's concerned expression, Orihime couldn't help but voice a thought that had been plaguing her mind ever since she had seen her crush's sad expression.

"Something really horrible must have happened that day."

"Huh?"

"For someone to look so sad, just because of a question. Something really bad must have happened, so horrible that he doesn't want to talk about it. I don't think we should try to push it. Someday maybe he will tell us, but not now." She elaborated, staring up at the shining moon with a sombre expression on her face. Tatsuki could only stare at her friend, before she nodded. She really wanted to know what happened that day, but she wouldn't push it.

"Yeah, someday maybe."

With that, the two girls said good night and parted ways, completely oblivious to the black cat watching them from the shadows. And if cat's could smile, said cat would have a blistering grin on her face as she jumped up on the roof and ran faster than a cat should be able to over the rooftops.

* * *

**Please leave a review on your way out**


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Thank you so, so much for all ****the reviews, follows and favorites! You have no idea how much this means to me, every single time I see someone following my story or leaving a review, I almost start dancing of joy. Hehe.. Anyway, last chapter I switched from putting the surname in front of and after the given name, but now I'll stick to the japanese version with the surname first. And if you see some spelling errors, keep in mind that english is not my native languish and I'm still learning it. So one more time, Thank you so much and Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, that honor belongs to the one and only, Tite Kubo.**

**Chapter 1**

"Okay class, today in chemistry, we will be experimenting in groups of two." The teacher's voice rang out over the classroom and Ichigo couldn't help but feel like he would rather be somewhere else. It was not because he thought chemistry was boring, quite the opposite actually, but right now his whole body was itching to move. Ever since he woke up this morning he had been feeling restless and for some reason he just couldn't sit still. It had gone so far that Mizuiro had asked him over lunch if everything was alright.

Tapping with his pen on the desk, he let his gaze wander over to the window. Right now, all he needed was a good, old-fashion spar, a hollow to slay or just something to take out his stored-up reiatsu and energy on. But slaying a hollow was out of the question since a couple of days earlier a new Shinigami arrived in town. Ichigo had no idea of why he couldn't continue his part of the hollow-hunting like he always had now when the new Shinigami had arrived, but Urahara had been very insistent. Since he didn't want to listen to another one of the perverted shopkeeper's long and uncomprehensable explanations, he decided to just go with it. _Yare yare, well I guess I'll just have to wait until school is over, then I'll borrow Hat n' Clog's training ground and maybe even ask him for a spar. _He turned his attention back to the teacher and listened to her as she went through the steps of the experiment.

It's been little over a month since he started school and he was surprised to see how easily the others in his class accepted him. Although most kept their distance and was a little unnerved by the emotionless mask and light scowl he always wore, a few had become his friends over the past weeks. Of course, he had already known Chad from before and the Mexican half-giant was actually one of few Ichigo would call a real friend. They met in a street brawl under a bridge a couple of years ago. Chad had been tied up to a chair and refused to fight back when some thugs beat him up. Seeing this, Ichigo had been unable to walk away. So three roundhouse-kicks, five uppercuts and twelve missing teeth later Ichigo had returned an old, mexican coin to Chad which the thugs had taken from the tall boy earlier. Chad later told Ichigo about how he had promised his grandfather that he would never use his strength for himself and after thinking about it for a while, Ichigo had answered that if that was the case then they should just start fighting for each other. That mind-twisting logic still worked and of all people Ichigo had got to know during the last month, Chad was still the one he would trust to watch his back.

"Is everything clear?" The teacher's voice once again brought him out of his thinking. "Then what are you waiting for? Find a partner and get to work."

Standing up, Ichigo picked up his notebook and walked over to Chad, who was preparing everything for the first step. Trying to stop himself from fidgeting, he hoped that the day would pass by smoothly so he could run to Urahara Shouten as soon as possible. If only the second's would tick by a little faster…

* * *

With two fingers, Ishida Uryu pushes up his glasses for the sixth time that hour, making the light reflect in the lenses. Sneaking another glance at the orange-haired teenager on the other side of the classroom – another thing he had been doing a lot lately – he furrowed his eyebrows, one question occupying his mind. _Who- no, what the hell is Kurosaki Ichigo?_ Due to him being – and he hated to admit it – unattentive, he hadn't noticed it at first. It wasn't until last friday that he noticed, and it had taken him the whole weekend to figure out what exactly he had noticed. When he came back to school again at monday it was as clear as the sun, and the mentally beat himself up for not noticing earlier when his theory was confirmed. How could he'd been so carless? As the last quincy and protector of this town, letting something like that go unnoticed for so long, it was... It was unacceptable!

Gritting his teeth, Uryu reached out with his senses. Once again, there was nothing from the aggravating carrot-top on the other side of the room. He could sense every reiatsu signature in the area. He could sense the weak one's from all the people with no spiritual awareness and he could sense the noticeably stronger one's from some of his classmates and other spiritually aware people. Heck he could even sense the local shinigami taking care of a hollow a few blocks away, but for some reason he couldn't sense a single ounce of reiatsu from the enigma called Kurosaki Ichigo. And he couldn't for his life figure out a reason to why. It was so frustrating that he had to suppress the urge to tear his hair out. At first, he had pondered over the idea that Kurosaki just didn't have any reiatsu or so little that it couldn't be sensed, but had quickly pushed that out of his mind. Everybody had reiatsu, without it you couldn't be alive and even if a person just had a little amount, it could still be sensed if you tried hard enough. Another theory he had come up with was that somehow, Kurosaki was able to completely hide his reiatsu signature or that he some sort of ability that allowed him to do so. Right now, this was the best explanation Uryu had come up with, but something with it didn't add up. Even those who are very skilled at reiatsu control can't hide their signature completely. _Kami, how on earth do you not have a reiatsu signature?_

Sighing, Uryu rubbed his forehead before resuming his glaring at the strawberry's back. Even if the mystery around the missing reiatsu signature gave him a big headache most of the time, he was dead set on figuring it out. Although it was more important to find out if Kurosaki was a threat to Karakura. Because if it was one thing he had understood, it was that Kurosaki was not a normal human. If he was a hollow or a Shinigami or something completely different didn't matter. Both hollows and Shinigami are not welcome to this town, and Uryu have sworn on his pride as a quincy to make sure they understood that. Now he just had to make sure that Kurosaki understood that too. And if he was something else the-

"ISHIDA-SAN!"

With a start, Uryu focused his gaze at the person waving his hand in front of him. Momohara stopped waving when he saw that he had finally gained the attention of the sewing-nerd he was teamed up with and gave him an exasperated look. Uryu glared back, irritated at being disturbed while thinking.

"Earth to Ishida-san, welcome back. Finished staring at Kurosaki-san or should I leave you alone to continue?" The sarcasm was practically dripping from Momohara's words, but he stopped when he saw the increasing irritation in Uryu's eyes. "I was trying to tell you that we're finished with the experiment, but you didn't respond the first couple of times I called your name."

"I apologise, I was lost in thought." Uryu said quickly, not sounding the slightest apologetic.

"Yeah, I could see that." Momohara muttered, then continued with a louder voice. "Anyway, we're finished and are aloud to quit for the day. I'm leaving now, so I'll guess we'll see each other in school later. Bye." With that he turned on his heel and walked out of the classroom.

Sighing again, Uryu pushed up his glasses and gathered his belongings in his bag. Looking around, he saw that the carrot-top he wanted to talk to wasn't present anymore. Pulling up the zipper on his bag, he rushed out of the classroom in a manner he thought fit.

A couple of minutes later, he stood outside the gate of Karakura High School, looking after a mop of startling orange hair. Spotting him walking away together with Inoue Orihime and Arisawa Tatsuki, he hesitated. He didn't want anyone else to be there when he spoke to Kurosaki, because he had no idea of how the outcome would be. Furrowing his eyebrows, he let out an irritated breath. Resigning himself to the fact that his encounter with the enigma would have to wait, he did one last thing. Closing his eyes in concentration, he pull out Kurosaki's reiraku and takes a firm hold on it. Opening his eyes again, he feel them widen as he gasps. In his hand is the strangest reiraku he has ever seen. The ribbon, which really should only be able to be either white or red, is frayed with a colour that looks like some kind of strange mix between red, white and black. The ribbon manages to look fragile and strong at the same time and just as he tries to take a closer look, a sudden burning feeling in his hand makes him drop it instantly. He watches as it fades away and with one thought on his mind, he turns around and walks his way home. _What the hell are you, Kurosaki Ichigo?_

* * *

Standing in one of his favourite positions, namely upside-down in the air, Hirako Shinji follows the glasses wearing kid with his gaze. When the nosey brat got out of sight, he jumps down on the ground, intending to sneak up on another brat, one not nearly as nosey as the raven-haired one. Landing with inhuman grace, he fixes his eyes on the target of his boredom and with a soundless step of shindo he... Finds himself with a fist implanted in his face. Falling down on the ground, one hand clutching his poor nose, he gives the person in front of him a mock-hurt look.

"Aw, Ichi-chan. That hurt!"

Ichigo shrugged. "Blame yourself, you should know by now that sneaking up on me is equaling to getting hurt." He said in a nonchalant tone as he started to walk away. Picking himself up from the ground, Shinji followed. "And don't call me that, I'm not a kid anymore."

"Sure your not." Waving a dismissive hand in the air, he continued with a knowing grin on his face. "Now tell me, who were those pretty women ya just said good bye ta?"

"Not something your thinking of. They're classmates, and the girl with the long auburn hair is also my neighbour. Now what do you want, Shinji?

"Same as always, ain't ya Ichi-chan? Are ya sayin' lil' ol' me can't say hello just for the sake of it?" Shinji chuckled, a distinct Kansai dialect clearly audible as he spoke. "Well, guess it's direct ta business then. I take it ya already know 'bout your stalker?" Seeing the nod he got as an answer, he continued. "Well then, count yourself lucky. Just as I was goin' ta sneak up on ya, I caught him holdin' your reiraku in his hand. He was just 'bout ta take a closer look when I shocked him with a quick kido-

"_What?_"

"Easy, I didn't use anythin' that could've seriously hurt the brat. Just something ta take his hands away from your ribbon. Ya better be careful though, 'cause I think he's on ta ya, an' sooner or later he'll want answers."

"I know, he's been glaring at me all week. Made me wonder if I accidentally killed his cat or something. But don't worry though, I know what I'm doing. Hat n' Clogs told me about him and his kind a couple of months ago actually." Shinji raised an eyebrow at that, _his kind?_ Apparently Ichigo saw his reaction, because he elaborated. "I saw him slaying hollows with a glowing blue bow and arrows." The cheshire grin faded a bit and he inhaled sharply. Noticing this too, Ichigo continued. "I take it you know about the Quincies?"

"Yah, I was actually a captain back when they were at war with the Shinigami, y'know. I remember that they were quite stuck up on their pride." He sneaked a glance at the teen walking beside him. "Even if they're humans, they can make an awful lot damage. If this brat is one, then ya gotta be careful, 'kay?"

"Yeah well, there's not much I can do about it. It's not like I can kill him like with the annoying hollows. Besides, I thought I told you not to worry?" Ichigo countered, amusement clear in his voice.

"Yare yare, an' that's the thanks ya get for worryin'." Shinji muttered, cheshire grin back at full power. Ichigo actually chuckled at that, and Shinji did the mental happy-dance he did every time he got something akin to a laugh out of the kid.

He still remembered the day he first met Ichigo. Looking up at the blue sky, he thought back to the day all those years ago. The kid had really been a kid back then, with eyes too big for his head and a height only a little higher than Hiyori's (much to the chagrin of the girl in question and the amusement of all the others, that had later turned into pain caused by her flip-flop), but he hadn't acted like one. Not in any way. Eyes dead and face void of emotions and fixed into a permanent scowl, Ichigo had not said a word while Kisuke had explained the situation. He just stood there, assessing them one by one with his gaze, body tense as if expecting an ambush to happen. And after hearing about what he had been through, Shinji had understood why.

Since then, Shinji had taken it upon himself to break out the kid's locked up emotions and he knew he wasn't the only one. Both Kisuke and Yoruichi was doing the same and soon Mashiro, Hachi, Rose and even Lisa was trying. Shinji had been particularly shocked when he saw Hiyori trying in her own, special way one day.

They had made progress, and somewhere along the way become friends with the carrot-top. Today, he was a part of their little group, the Vizards, and it was strange to think that only a couple of years ago, none of them had even known who he was.

"Do you have anything you have to do later today?" The question sent his way dragged him out of his musings.

"Not that I can think of, why?" Quirking an eyebrow, he looked back at the teen.

"Great! Then what do you say about a spar in Getaboushi's basement? I need to get rid of some stocked up reiatsu, and was even thinking about asking the man himself if he would be up for a round, but you know how hard it is to separate him and his lab." Grin somehow getting even wider, Shinji replied:

"Sure, could be fun ta beat your ass again. No, scratch that, it's always fun ta beat your ass." The annoyed glare shot his way did nothing but amuse him.

"Yeah right, it's not like you could, even if you wanted to." Shinji laughed at that, catching a sly smirk playing on the teens lips. The statement was absolutely true and Shinji himself was thorn between pride that the kid he taught was now stronger than him, and embarrassment that a kid could beat him in a spar. It helped a little that Ichigo was practically everything you could be, and trained by the best of the best, but it was still a blow on his pride.

"Arrogant little brat, ain't ya? How 'bout a little warm up first? Last to reach the shop gets ta do the other's chores for a _week_." The moment he finished the sentence, both men speed away in the direction of the candy shop with their quickest shindo.

* * *

"BOAHAHAHAHA!" Don Kanoji's irritating, trade mark laugh could be heard from the television. Tatsuki quickly switched to another channel, because seriously, she had no idea what it was that made everyone else love that show. In her opinion it was all a bunch of crap. How anyone could believe and watch that show once a week was beyond her, and maybe it's because she could actually see the spirits Don Kanoji was 'exorcising' or maybe it's because she just couldn't stand the man's antics.

Tuning out the news reporter that was trying to inform her about all the bad stuff happening around the world, she heaved a sigh. With another quick look at the clock, she stomped down the worry forming in het gut. In her opinion, Orihime should have come back a long time ago. The ditzy girl had texted her that she was going to go and buy the groceries needed for the week when Tatsuki was on her way over to her apartment. Tatsuki had decided to wait for the other girl in her home, and all that happened almost _an hour _ago.

Absently tossing the remote-control with one hand, she went through all the facts she had to know on the next history test to pass some time. Or at least she tried to, but her mind drifted over to other topics that had been occupying her thoughts lately, such as her childhood-sparring-partner-turned-suddenly-disappearing-friend-turned-classmate-and-best-friend's-neighbour. After the late night tea in said carrot-top's apartment, she had tried to get closer to him again. She quickly found out that he always tried to conceal his feelings and never really spoke unless there was something important or someone asked him something. That made him and Yasutora Sado – whom she'd found out was a friend of Ichigo's from before when he called him Chad on their first day, which also made her wonder if he really had moved to Tokyo or stayed in Karakura the whole time – the quietest duo in the school and, lets not forget, the scariest.

The bullies from schools all around town seemed to be drawn to them and every time, no matter how many there were, Chad and Ichigo always beat their asses. After the first time it happened, namely on their first day, the rest of the school knew not to mess with the two first years and it was quite funny to see how some of the seniors were completely terrified of them. Although as one of those who hung out with them, she couldn't understand how some thought that they were real hooligans with their own secret gang doing drugs and everything. Both Ichigo and Chad were just teenagers unlucky enough to catch the attention of bullies and thugs, but with enough backbone to stand up to them.

She also found out that while he was very blunt and straightforward, he only opened up to those close to him, and right now that wasn't many people. Tatsuki was pretty sure she could count them on two hands, even though she had only met one of them. Even if she and Orihime had gotten closer to him since that time in his apartment, it seemed that they still weren't close enough to gain his full trust. It saddened her somewhat, but at the same time it made her angry. How hard was it for him to just get it into his head that they were friends, and friends trusted each other!? She wouldn't push him, but damn it! He should know that if he needed to talk to someone about anything, they were here for him. Just like she had been there for Orihime when the girl had told her about the strange blurry figures she'd been seeing lately.

That was another thing that Tatsuki had been wondering a lot about lately. For years now, Tatsuki would occasionally spot a blurry figure in the corner of her eyes. It had started when she was eight, but back then it was so rare that she had brushed it off as nothing. It wasn't until she was thirteen that she had started to catch a glimpse of them more often, but every time she turned to look at the strange blurs, they would disappear. So once again she had brushed it off as nothing, just that Orihime's wild imagination was rubbing off on her. That was before they had become even more and visible longer. Now they weren't even always blurs, sometimes they looked suspiciously like transparent people that was floating around with chains in their chests.

When she'd discovered this, she had really started to worry about her mental health. Seeing blurs in the corners of her eyes was one thing, but seeing floating people was definitely not normal, and since she seemed to be the only one who could see them, it became clear that Arisawa Tatsuki was going crazy. Or so she thought. When Orihime told her that she saw the same blurry figures all over town during dinner a couple of days ago, it felt like a weight was lifted from the tomboy's chest. The sigh of relief she had let out after hearing Orihime's story had made Orihime stop and look at her with an odd expression on her face. After Tatsuki reassured her friend that she was not going insane, and if she was, then Tatsuki was doing it too, because she saw the same things. Orihime had mimicked her relieved sigh and they had gotten into a debate about what the blurry persons were. Orihime had thrown in the idea that they were dead souls sometime during their conversation and while Tatsuki had dismissed the idea then, she wasn't so sure now. Some of the transparent people had injuries that should be fatal and the aura that they gave off was significantly less.. _alive _than the aura she could feel from Orihime for example.

The sound of a light thud made her look up. _What the..?_ Standing in front of her with one foot on a bureau and one foot coming out _through _the wall was a young woman. Her raven hair reached past her shoulders, and a single strand was hanging between her big violet eyes that was taking in the room. She was wearing what looked like black robes with white lining that would've been fashion for a couple of centuries ago, but what really shocked her was the sword secured at her waist. _Who on earth walks around with a sword? _Tatsuki couldn't help but think. _Is that even legal?_

Her petite form made her look very young, but Tatsuki guessed that they were about the same age, even though it was something about her eyes that made Tatsuki rethink her assumption.

Either way, that didn't matter. What mattered was that this girl had just walked _through_ the wall into Orihime's apartment. _Orihime's _apartment. As far as Tatsuki knew, this girl had no right to just waltz in like this and since Orihime was way too kind for her own good and also not home right now, it was up to her to make sure that the intruding girl understood that. Standing up, she hollered.

"Hey you, what do you think you're doing!?"

The mysterious girl didn't respond. In fact, it seemed like she didn't even notice that Tatsuki was there. She gritted her teeth, scowling almost as much as Ichigo and glared at the girl.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" She was almost sure that she wouldn't get a response this time either when the girl suddenly mumbled with a far away look in her eyes.

"It's close..."

That was when Tatsuki's patience ran out completely. Kicking the girl in the back so she flew across the room, she screamed.

"I don't care if it's close! Tell me what the fuck you're doing in Orihime's apartment!" Now standing over the annoying midget with her hands at her hips, she glared. The girl herself was stuck in a deer-in-the-headlights-look as she stared back, fumbling to get up from her sprawled position on the floor.

"Y-you can see me?!" She yelled back, pointing at Tatsuki with a shaking finger and shock apparent in her voice.

"Of course I can, do I look like I'm blind? Now you better have a damn good excuse for breaking into Orihime's home, or I'm calling the police. Now who are you?!"

"The police..? It doesn't matter." The girl muttered half to herself before standing up and walking up to Tatsuki. Tatsuki felt her irritation grow. Well, at least the girl's gaze was now fully focused on her.

"Didn't you hear me? I sai-" She was interrupted by a hand that lifted up her chin, as if to study her face or something. That only ticked Tatsuki off even more.

"This is strange..." And why on earth did the girl keep talking as if she was the only one to hear? "Ordinarily, no one should be able to see me." _Okay, that does it!_ Slapping away her hand she tried to kick her again, only to find the girl _jumping_ over her and kicking her on the back of her head, like it was nothing! Picking herself up from the floor, she cursed under her breath while wondering who the hell this girl is. Turning her glare on at full power again, she was just about to demand who the girl was when the person in question answered for her.

"Very well, I'll tell you. I am a Shinigami."

* * *

One long explanation later, accompanied with a bunch of really crappy kindergarden drawings, the two girls where sitting in front of each other by a table. One had a very disbelieving look on her face and the other was calmly meeting the doubting gaze with her own completely serious one.

"Okay, so basically, you're telling me that you are something called a Shinigami?" The crazy girl in front of her nodded seriously. "And you came all the way from some place called Soul Society to cleanse evil spirits?" Again, she received a serious nod. "And these evil spirits are called Hollows and have a bone white mask over their face and hole through their chests?" Yet another serious nod. "And they hunt and eat those floating people who actually are spirits of the dead?" Another infuriating, serious nod. "What do you take me for, a complete moron?!" Tatsuki yelled, throwing up her hands in the air and standing up. Actually, after the explanation the whole thing made a lot more sense, but no way she was going to admit that. Plus, if she played denying, then she may find out something more about this Soul Society.

"What!? You can see ghosts but you refuse to believe in the existence of Shinigami?"

"Yes of course! After all this time seeing ghosts I've never, ever seen either a Shinigami nor a Hollow. And I don't believe in things I can't see, that's just stupid. So why would I believe you?"

"Well, you seeing me right now, are you not?" The girl shot back, standing up herself.

"Yes and while I can admit that you aren't human, you have to understand that Shinigami and Hollows are a little far fetched. So if you don't have anything else to say, then why don't you go play somewhere else, little girl!" That comment seemed to tick the Shinigami off, and suddenly Tatsuki found herself on the floor with her hands bound behind her back by some invisible force.

"What the hell! What'd you do!?" She screamed, struggling against the invisible bonds.

"Don't try to move, the outcome will only be worse for you. That is what we Shinigami call kidou, a noble magic that can only be used by us Shinigami." The girl got a dangerous look in her eyes when she continued. "Despite how I look, I've lived nearly ten times as long as you, and you dare call me little girl!"

Suddenly the notebook was out again, with new bad drawings. Sitting down on her knees, she explained a little more about the spiritual world.

"Listen closely. In this world, there are two kinds of souls. The first, called 'Plus' are ordinary spirits, such as those you see with chains in their chests. Then there's Hollows, they attack and consume the living and dead indiscriminately and eat their souls. They are the ones with white masks and holes where their chain should be. Any questions?"

"You already told me that! Now let me out of this!" The girl gave her a irritated glare and did some kind of motion with her hand. Suddenly, the bounds disappeared and Tatsuki slowly sat up while looking over and rubbing her sore wrists.

"Then what's the problem? Anyway, there are two main jobs for Shinigami. First, to send Pluses from the world of the living to Soul Society through konso, also known as soul burial. This we do by pressing the end of the hilts of our zanpakutou on the Plus' forehead. A zanpakutou is what we call our swords, by the way. Second is to exorcise the Hollows wherever we find them. We have yet to fully understand what motivates the hollows to do the things they do-"

Tatsuki didn't hear anymore of the girl's explanation because of a wild roar that screeched through the night. A cold shiver evaporated from her spine by the mere sound of it.

"What the hell was that?!" The girl stopped her explanation and gave her a bewildered look, before continuing.

"One thing we do know is that Hollows go for those with high spiritual pressure, since they 'taste better' than ordinary souls. Another thing is that there is still a Hollow crawling around here somewhere nearby."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for. Go out and kill it before it kills more people!" This made the girl look down in shame.

"I would, but I can't seem to detect it's location. Usually, I have no trouble finding a Hollow that's close by, but here it's as if my senses are being jammed by some powerful force-" She was interrupted by Tatsuki grabbing her arm to get her attention.

"What are you, deaf? Didn't you hear that? There's something huge howling outside and if your description is anything to go by then that sound is probably from a Hollow!"

"Something howling? What do you mean?" The girl dumbly repeated and Tatsuki gritted her teeth. What is she, both deaf and stupid? How did she not hear that? Then the howling started again, just as bone chilling as before and this time it seemed like the girl also heard it because she jolted upright and stared in the direction of the scary sound with a hand on the hilt of her sword. "Now I hear it, definitely a hollow."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you-" Another scream filled the air, but this one didn't come from a hollow. No this one came from- "Orihime!" Standing up so quickly that she almost fell over, Tatsuki darted through the room, down the hall and out through the door. The girl caught up with her quickly, but Tatsuki didn't even notice as she focused on running down the stairs. When she reached the last step, she froze in shock and fear.

In front of her was a monster, a _huge _monster, there was no other way to put it. It looked almost like a fish-like monkey with fins on it's crouched back and two long arms. On it's face was a big, ivory white, grinning mask with purple markings on and in the eye sockets where cold, yellow shining eyes. The whole thing looked positively frightening and grotesque, and it was radiating an evil aura that nearly suffocated Tatsuki. _Is this.. Is this a hollow?_

Then Tatsuki noticed what it was holding in it's large hand.

"Orihime!" She yelled, staring at her friend that was stuck in the monster's grip. Orihime opened her eyes and pleaded weakly.

"Tatsuki.. H-help me.."

Shaking off her fear, she clenched her fists. Seeing her friend on the brink of unconsciousness in the monsters grasp made her blood boil, but just as she took a step forward a hand grabbed her arm. Behind her stood the girl, staring at her with a firm look.

"Stay out of this!" She ordered and when Tatsuki shook of her hand she continued. "You'll only get in the way, fool!"

"Shut up!" Tatsuki screamed, glaring at the girl with a wild look in her eyes. "Do you think I'll just stay down when my friend's in danger. If so, then you're the fool!" And with that, she ran towards the Hollow, grabbing a broom on her way and swinging it in a clumsy manner at the Hollows leg. Before she even got five steps, the hollow swatted her away with it's free arm. Flying through the air and landing painfully on the sidewalk a few meters away, she cursed herself for leaving her side open like that, even though she fully knew that it wouldn't have mattered. The hollow was too fast for her to follow, even though it was so huge.

Rolling over to her back she saw it raise it's hand as if it was going to crush her like a bug. Her whole body ached from the hard fall, but she ignored it and rolled out of the way just in time to hear the hand destroy the spot she had previously been in. Another roar filled the night and when she looked up she saw the girl cutting down her sword in the arm holding Orihime. Still howling, the hollow let go of the now unconscious Orihime and fled through a black void in the air. Tatsuki hurled herself over just in time to catch the falling teen.

"Orihime! No!"

"Don't worry, she'll be alright. The Hollow left before it could devour her soul." The girl reassured her as she turned around to look if the hollow had showed up anywhere nearby.

"Are you sure?" Tatsuki asked, forcing herself to calm down, at least a bit.

"Yes, it's seeking a specific soul to eat. One with a much higher concentration of reiatsu." The girl explained. "That soul is you."

"Me?! But why? I can't have that much rei-stuff or whatever you called it, I've only been able to see souls clearly for a month!" Tatsuki felt her insides go cold. If that was true, then it was her fault that that monster came to town in the first place, and it was her fault that Orihime was hurt.

"If that's so, then somehow you've gained more reiatsu during these past month to make you a target. I don't know how exactly you've gained it, but it's obvious that someone or something is leaking out so much reiatsu that it made you spiritually aware. Tell me, did you interact with a dead soul earlier today?" Pale-faced, Tatsuki nodded. She had in fact been talking to a little girl with pigtails earlier this morning, and it was true that that girl had been one of those with chains in their chests. "That should explain how the Hollows were able to track you. By hunting down that soul, they felt your presence from when you interacted and followed it here. That means that the hollows really are after you!"

Tatsuki could only stare at the girl. What did she mean? It was her fault? Everything that happened was because of her! Shaking all over, she looked down on her hands. She could sense the evil aura of the Hollow coming back and yet another roar could be heard. If it was because of her that the Hollow had attacked Orihime and probably other souls, then she was going to be the one to take it down! Standing up, she marched forward with determined steps and stopped in front of the fish-like Hollow.

"Stop, what are you doing!" The girl screamed, but Tatsuki pointedly ignored her. Looking up at the ugly face of the Hollow, she yelled.

"What are you, a coward? Quit attacking others! If it's my soul you want, then come and get it. Fight me one on one like real man, you ugly bastard-" Before she got to finish her sentence, the hollow threw itself at her with it's jaws open wide. Raising her arms over her face as if to protect herself, she waited for the inevitable pain. But no pain came. Instead a muffled scream of agony came from somewhere in front of her. Lowering her arms, her eyes widened again.

"No, Shinigami!"

The Shinigami girl had thrown herself in between Tatsuki and the hollow and taken the blow. Freeing herself from it's mouth, she fell down on the ground, blood splattering everywhere. The hollow backed off, twisting in pain because of the injury it gained on it's mask by her zanpakutou. Weakly raising her head to look at Tatsuki, the girl spoke quietly.

"You are a fool. How could you possibly have thought that _you _were any match for a Hollow?" Putting one hand under her, she tried to push herself off the ground. "Did you really think that giving it your soul would satisfy it and everything would be okay? One soul is nothing to a Hollow! If you don't stop interfering we're all going to end up as it's food!" That berating made Tatsuki swallow in guilt. Looking over to the hollow, she saw it preparing to attack again. The groans of pain coming from the girl made her look back. The girl had dragged herself over the a wall and was now leaning against it, looking expectantly at her. Not quite understanding the look, Tatsuki prepared herself for an explanation on how they were all going to die and how it all was her fault.

"Do you want to save your friend?" _Wait, what?_

"Of course I do! I'll do anything to keep Orihime safe! If there's a way, then tell me!" Nodding at her answer, the girl took a deep breath and grabbed the hilt of her zanpakutou. Lifting it up and pointing it straight at Tatsuki, she grimaced through the pain.

"It will only be temporary, but you have to become a Shinigami yourself."

"Wha-"

"You must take my zanpakutou and run it through to the center of your being, so that I may pour my powers into you!" The hollow howled in the background, starting it's attack, but Tatsuki didn't notice. Her full attention was on the wounded Shinigami girl in front of her. "I can't guarantee that you will live, but if doesn't work, it won't matter."

Turning her expression from pure shock to determination, the raven-haired tomboy walked up to the girl and stretched out a hand.

"Then give me your sword, Shinigami."

"My name is Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia."

Grabbing the blade and steeling herself for what she was going to do, she noticed the Hollow coming closer in the corner of her eye.

"Nice to meet you, Rukia. My name is..." Taking a last deep breath, she finished. "Arisawa Tatsuki!" And then she stabbed the blade through her chest.

She felt it pierce her heart, but strangely enough, she felt no pain. As light took over her vision for a moment, a wonderful feeling spread inside her. It flooded through her veins and made her feel like she could do anything. It was the feeling of power, she realised. Quickly turning around, she saw that the Hollow was still blinded by the light and decided to use her momentum. Charging forward, faster than she ever thought she'd be able to, she swung down her blade, cutting off the monster's left arm by the shoulder.

Skidding to a halt behind the bewildered hollow, she turned around to face it again and finish it off. She absently noticed that the girl – _Rukia_, her name is Rukia – was no longer clad in a black robe, but instead a white one that visibly showed the blood leaking from her wounds. Seeing the Hollow running straight for her, she charged again, cutting of it's right leg with a horizontal swing. The Hollow screamed out an infuriated roar while trying to regain it's balance.

"This is what you get for trying to hurt my friends!" She screamed as she finished with an upright strike that cut straight through the big, white mask. She stopped, panting as she watched it disintegrate into nothing. _Yes, I did it! _Giving herself a mental pat on the back for well fought, she felt the adrenaline pumping through her veins diminish and gave into the darkness that suddenly overtook her.

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